Of All the Tea Houses
by Casa Circe
Summary: ZUTARA WEEK 2015 Day One: Happenstance. "I didn't find you," the waterbender argued, "Momo and I just stumbled upon the place by chance, hoping for a nice quiet night out."


**ZUTARA WEEK 2015, Day 1: HAPPENSTANCE**

 _ **Of All the Tea Houses**_

 **DISCLAIMER:** _ **Avatar: the Last Airbender**_ **belong to Bryke, but Zutara Week belongs to all Zutarians.**

 **NOTE: It's that time of year again and I'm still here, having fun and celebrating my favorite Avatar ship.**

 **The prompts this year are particularly interesting though I was still a bit worried because I've covered some of them in previous years' entries. Nevertheless, I appreciate a challenge and I have tried to be as creative as I can. Even familiar territory can be explored in different ways, after all.**

 **As some of you may know, I love the Ba Sing Se arc as a setting for Zutara stories because there is just so much potential and the city is endlessly intriguing. So though I may have approached this particular scene before, this is yet another take.**

 **The statistics and figures here are obviously my inventions since I didn't really do any real 'research' on this. But I hope they seem plausible (even if I didn't major in maths or anything). This isn't very fluffy and may seem a bit academic at first but I've tried not to be too boring.**

 **Enjoy!**

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The average Upper Ring Ba Sing Se citizen spends at least 6 hours a week at a tea house. The typical Ba Sing Se tea house can accommodate up to 50 customers at a time and in order to respond to the high demand for quality tea and company in the city, at least 2 new tea houses open every month. Depending on the quality of their products and service, not all these tea houses enjoy long life-spans but those that endure, acquire a steady and loyal clientele.

Still, at any given moment, there are hundreds of tea houses in the Upper Ring, good or otherwise. And the flow of customers is constant since drinking good tea is a popular past time among citizens from all walks of life from university students to Dai Li agents.

Thus, all things considered, what are the chances that the Avatar's waterbending master (and her lemur friend) would stumble into the one tea house in the city run by two exiled firebenders?

Such a coincidence, statistically speaking, would be very unlikely. And yet, Destiny doesn't go by the rules of probability.

So Katara and Momo stumbled into the Jasmine Dragon, eager to take a break from their duties. She had already seen quite a bit of the city and while there were grander, fancier tea houses, this one had appealed to her. It was a humble affair but there was a certain, warm energy about it that made put her at ease. And considering all she and her friends had been going through, a little comfort went a long way.

"This looks like a good place," the waterbender told the lemur on her shoulder, "What do you think, Momo?"

Momo merely inclined his head and gave a chirp of approval. Katara smiled and joined the queue of customers who were also eager to enter the Jasmine Dragon.

A moment later and these two guests would have discovered the identity of the tea house's proprietor and his nephew and the story would have gone a certain way. But the smallest shift can change everything.

It just so happened that a particularly enthusiastic new customer who was in the midst of extolling the virtues of the new tea house, raised his hand to emphasize his point and knocked over a pot of boiling hot green tea (with mint), which had been about to scald the waterbender and lemur.

Momo made a noise of warning and Katara was just about to raise her hand to bend the tea away from her when someone swiftly took her by the shoulders and away from the tea's trajectory. People moved out of the way as the teapot shattered to the ground.

In the ensuing commotion, Katara barely had time to glance at and thank the person who had come to her aid in such a timely fashion. Momo had jumped out of the way and climbed up one of the posts by the tea house walls to watch the scene unfold. The proprietor of the tea house began to apologize profusely to the rest of the customers for what had happened while the careless customer likewise expressed his shame and embarrassment for having inadvertently caused such a scene.

But Katara was spared most of the theatrics as she was gently brought to a quieter part of the cozy establishment, away from all the fuss. And she was grateful for it.

"That was more excitement than I expected from a tea house," the waterbender remarked cheerfully, finally turning to her companion, only to stare in shock as she recognized him.

For his part, Zuko looked away, unable to meet her gaze, fully aware of how awkward the situation was for both of them. He had not immediately realized who she was when he had rescued her from the tea but merely followed his instincts. And now, he dreaded the explanations he would have to make.

"Zuko!" Katara cried out, recovering from the initial shock and getting into a fighting stance, "What are you doing here?"

The firebender raised his hands defensively. "I'm as surprised as you are to see you here," he said, "and I can explain."

Katara narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously but also noticed that much of the hostility she had always associated with him was not present. There was something about his aura that seemed..calmer somehow. She was still on her guard but she said that she was willing to listen.

"I hope you're not planning on terrorizing the people in this tea shop," she could not help but comment.

Zuko raised an eyebrow at this. "Excuse me," the firebender replied tersely, "but this tea house belongs to my uncle. You're the one who just walked in. I don't know how you found us, and on our opening night too."

"I didn't find you," the waterbender argued, "Momo and I just stumbled upon the place by chance, hoping for a nice quiet night out."

"Well, it seems like this night is not going to go as planned for either of us," the firebender commented with a sigh.

"No kidding," Katara muttered.

"Let's not quarrel about this right now," Zuko continued calmly, trying to find a good way of maintaining the peace, something he had very little experience doing, "we have clearly a lot to discuss here. But for now, could I interest you in a coupon for a free cup of tea?"

He held out the coupon nervously and Katara stared at him for a few awkward moments. She was still slightly suspicious but her instincts told her that she could trust him…and his coupon.

"You are certainly full of surprises," the waterbender said, smiling in spite of herself, "but I think I'll take you up on that offer."


End file.
